


Fledgling

by nuspock



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-07
Updated: 2013-07-07
Packaged: 2017-12-18 01:37:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/874206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nuspock/pseuds/nuspock
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The ship takes him under her wing, and together, they soar.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fledgling

From the moment that Pavel joins the hundreds-strong family that is the crew of the Enterprise, he knows that he is, whether he likes it or not, the ship’s baby. It’s not that the crew underestimates him. To graduate from the Academy at his age, to be on the bridge as an ensign by seventeen - only a fool would underestimate those credentials. It’s just that, compared to the rest of the crew he seems so, well, _young._ His voice still cracks every now and then when he’s in the middle of broadcasting their next mission. Despite his slim frame, Pav’s adolescent appetite ploughs through more food in one sitting than some of the crew members eat in a day. The remnants of baby fat that linger on his body and the occasional stubborn zit remind everyone that however mature his mind, his body is still stuck in the awkward place between teenager and adult.

And yet, Pavel finds that he wouldn’t have it any other way. Despite his near-constant blush, he enjoys the pampering he gets from the Enterprise’s women as they fawn over his curly hair and his big eyes. He enjoys McCoy’s good-natured grumbling ("Seventeen, Jim? _Seventeen?_ And I thought you were promoted too quickly.") He enjoys the captain’s brotherly claps on the back and his (often drunken) words of of wisdom. The ship takes him under her wing, and together, they soar.

He measures his years by the miles he’s walked though her halls, by the uniforms he outgrows too rapidly for Starfleet to replace, by the victories and failures and near-misses and the friends lost and gained. And when, years later, they’re all gathered around a table, reminiscing about old times, all he can say is, “Time’s a funny thing. I can’t believe we were once that young."

Jim chuckles warmly. “No," he says. “You were younger."

Pav smiles into his drink. Yes. He was.


End file.
